Quinn Cundertol
Quinn Cundertol is the general manager of the Bakura Miners. A highly controversial figure, Cundertol has been successful as the front office leader of the Miners, bringing home three Galactic Cups of Limmie and three Commissioner's Trophies. Family History Cundertol was born and raised on Eriadu. He is a member of the disgraced House of Cundertol, which traces its history back to former Prime Minister of Bakura Molierre Cundertol who committed treason against the planet in allying with the Ssi-Ruuvi Imperium. Due to social stigma, Molierre's children fled Bakura and settled on other worlds. Though a claim could be made that Quinn is an ethnic Bakuran, he demonstrates absolutely none of the traditional customs, manners of speech, or other cultural markers of other Bakurans. Career on Eriadu Mentally gifted from an early age, Cundertol applied his talents to sports management and eventually earned an Assistant General Managership with the Eriadu Slicers. While the Slicers never rose out of the Alliance Bolo-ball Conference, Quinn's player analysis began to garner attention. He displayed incredible mental focus in breaking down a player's utility beyond the usual statistics. However, even then Cundertol displayed an arrogance (even amongst the normally haughty inhabitants of Eriadu) that limited his career advancement. Early Days with the Miners After Dana Roslyn retired from her longtime role as General Manager of the Bakura Miners (at the tacit request of Chairwoman Kerry Trieste), a galaxy-wide search was held by the Miners organization to determine the next General Manager of the team. Trieste became intrigued with Cundertol's methods and impressive mental acuity, even while noting his abrasive manner. Intrigued with Cundertol's theories, Trieste selected Quinn for the job. Cundertol immediately brought his good (and perhaps only) friend Han Tunross in as team physician and trainer. Immediately Cundertol began ruffling feathers. He immediately asked Trieste for permission to fire John Talley, then the head coach of the Miners and in the last year of his contract. Trieste denied him permission, citing the remaining year on his contract. Cundertol then made no secret of the fact that he did not like Talley, essentially putting the head coach on a short leash and notice that he would likely be fired at the end of the season. The Miners went on to post a 3-4 record and miss the playoffs. Talley was indeed subsequently fired along with all of Talley's coordinators and assistant coaches. One of Cundertol's first acts was to break the traditional all-human make up of the Miners. He immediately brought in non-Human players to the team. While the move was controversial, it was fully supported by Kerry Trieste. Quinn also took the captaincy away from Miner veteran Dorf Landa and gave it to Alana Glencross. The Miners poor showing in 270 caused some to question whether Cundertol had put too much faith in Glencross's leadership ability. Getting His Head Coach As with a year earlier at GM, the Head Coach opening resulted in a far-ranging search for the next incumbent. The search primarily focused on collegiate coaches from the Bakura 10 Conference that has traditionally supplied the Miners with a large amount of on-field talent. Cundertol, however, bucked the trend and hired former Midfielder Coach Gaeriel Valerii who had won two Galactic Cups with the Miners as a player and served as team captain. The two quickly established a strong working relationship. "Cunderball" Cundertol made no major changes to the Miners' roster for 271. Though Cundertol's "stay the course" strategy raised eyebrows, Cundertol stuck to his guns and his blend of statistical analysis and observational data gathering methods, which internally became known inside the Miners organization as "Cunderball." Specifically, Cundertol believed that he addition of Valerii, who bought into his system (unlike Talley), was the key to making his system work. The Miners barely made the playoffs at 3-4 and tied the Thyferra Force for the worst record of all playoff teams. The Miners then proceeded to tear through the playoffs and win three consecutive road games en route to a championship against the Commissioner's Trophy-winning Vandelhelm Jets. Cundertol's system did not garner huge attention in the galactic media, but the championship cemented his place as a leading GM in the League. Offense First Cundertol cleaned house immediately after the championship, allowing several free agents to walk. His major move was to sign Morgan Alesh and Becki Morlan out of Chandrila A&M University to dual contracts. Cundertol immediately moved he star corner forwards to the half forward wing positions, which overloaded the Miner front six with scoring potential. This move resulted in the Miners becoming League leaders in offense in both 272 and 273. In 272 Cundertol won the Grames Award as the League's best general manager. His acceptance speech was immediately criticized for being self-centered and narcissistic. However, by 273 Cundertol's offensive emphasis began to show strains. The Miners' defense fell to last in the League, resulting in criticism of Cundertol for not focusing on all sides of the ball. Despite the Miners winning the Commissioner's Trophy, Cundertol did not receive a Grames nomination, likely due to the Miners' terrible defense and Cundertol's comments the year earlier. GCAA Investigation In 272, the GCAA opened a formal investigation of the Miners and Cundertol's conduct in recruiting Alesh and Morlan. The Miners had retained the law firm of Fleetfire Zarmer earlier that year as their counsel and Cundertol worked with Sydney Talon of the firm on the Miners' defense. However, Cundertol's failure to provide Talon with all of the details of his recruiting visit to Chandrila put the Miners in jeopardy of censure from the GCAA with the potential for follow up punishment to be doled out by the Elite League. Talon's defense exonerated the Miners and allowed Cundertol to dodge a bullet. "Rebuild on the Fly" In 274, the Miners' defensive woes caught up with them as they missed the playoffs for the first time since Cundertol's inaugural year. After the high-flying offenses of 272 and 273, high expectations had grown on Bakura. Coupled with his haughty manner, calls for Cundertol's firing piled on at the end of the 274 season. Kerry Trieste stood by her General Manager, who made key moves during the offseason that was termed "a rebuild on the fly." By the start of the 275 season, only four players (Alana Glencross, Aron Rodders, Nanchecka Stormborn, and Nelly Wizmark) remained from the 271 championship team. Cundertol tweaked his lineup, adding 274 draft picks Niskat Deenever and Nefroq Vubbins. In a gutsy move, he let Everett North walk in free agency, taking away the midfield partner with whom Alana Glencross had experienced her greatest success, and used his first round draft selection on Jolla Pic, the highest-rated midfielder in the Draft. Cundertol, however, was unable to select either highly-touted Chiss goalkeeper in the second round. He traded down to the third round where he selected the unknown Lizbit Comstock (goalkeeper) and Eponette Ternardiel (half back). His trade would bring him the third overall selection in the 276 season. The results were stunning. The Miners won their second Commissioner's Trophy under Cundertol's management. Glencross won her second Salbukk Award as League MVP and Cundertol won his second Grames Award. More importantly, the Miners won their second Galactic Cup of Limmie with Cundertol in the front office. Player Development System Cundertol puts a high premium on first round draft picks. He has shown a high level of willingness to trade picks in later rounds for future picks in the first round (in 274, Cundertol had three consecutive first round picks). Cundertol appears to place a high premium on talent at the cost of having a large number of prospects. Critics of Cundertol's drafting philosophy point out that this results in a high reliance on starting players and shallow reserve depth, especially troubling when a team faces multiple injuries or players do not develop as expected. Unlike other Elite League teams, Cundertol has not adopted an exclusive development contract with a Limmie Futures League team. Shortly before the formation of the LFL, Cundertol terminated the Miners' existing development affiliate agreement with the Bison Sabres, preferring to sign individual loan agreements for his players. He has publicly stated that he feels the benefits of socializing future players together are outweighed by the benefits of having a diversity of styles and strategies learned. Additionally, Cundertol prefers having his players compete in the Premier League where the mix of talent is more slated towards second-tier veteran players than the explicitly development-oriented LFL. In 281, Cundertol was faced with the task of replacing Alana Glencross, the franchise player of the Miners during his tenure and three-time Galactic Cup champion. He acquired two Helmsman-nominated college players, one through the draft (Nathan Red) and one as an undrafted free agent (Niall Bourdogny). Cundertol arranged a transfer deal with the Thyferra Force that sent Bourdogny to Thyferra for development as part of a complicated conditional trade framework. When Cundertol recalled Bourdogny after a suspension to Nathan Red, a third round draft pick was sent to the Coruscant Senators, the parent organization of the Force. Red was nominated for the Ingbrand Award in the 281 season awards. In those same awards, Cundertol won his third Grames Award. Category:Bakura Miners Category:General Managers